LNZCC v Wimbledon CC, April 26th 2015 at Wimbledon CC Pitch – beautifully prepared wicket block which kept low with the occasional surprising pop Weather – Slate grey overcast with a biting cold wind. Toss won by LNZ & skipper Sam Martin who elected to bat first in a limited over match of 40 overs each side. 100 years and 1 day since the New Zealand troops landed at Gallipoli, in the shadow of Aorangi Hill (known now as Henman Hill in the AELTC) and 1 week since an emphatic LNZCC victory at Hampstead CC the mood was positive going into the day’s play. A day that throughout the previous week before had threatened to be dominated by rain was in fact very dry albeit somewhat cold. LNZ had put together a strong XII for the fixture as Wimbledon always manage to find a few of their 1st XI players to turn out for their Sunday side but always with a variety of ages and abilities added to the mix makes for a competitive match every year. Alas it was not to be...... Sam Martin won the toss and on the basis that he had 5 'openers' at his disposal felt confident his side could see off the new ball on a low, flat hard early season track. Greg Collinge filling in his normal role as an opener was joined by debutant Matt Tewhatu - off the back of his pre-season nets at Lord's - and within a few overs it became apparent the ball was dominating the bat. Matt departed in the 4th over with the score at 8, number 3 and regular run scorer for LNZ Andrew Haines (Ed’s Note: Hainesy is from Mosgiel which would imply an intimate knowledge of how to play cricket in freezing conditions.) departed 3 balls later for 0 and in the 7th over Greg went for 6. The first 3 wickets were all caught, the bowling was tight but not threatening. By this stage Pete Tippen in his 101st game for the club was joined by Luke Vivian (fresh from a 94* the week before) they managed to put on 21 runs with Pete out for 22 bowled. Josh Wright followed the same over for another duck and the very next ball Cheyne Voss for a first baller - the first threatening ball of the day - getting a glove through to the keeper from one of the few balls that popped off a length and which Cheyne had attempted to leave. So this was the sink or swim moment and thankfully a partnership of some note erupted. Justin Fredrickson joined Luke to contribute 3 to a partnership of 53 - Luke laid waste to all in front of him and made a mockery of the vast boundaries and difficulty that all previous batsmen had encountered. The highlight was his first of 4 sixes that sailed beyond Wimbledon Cricket Club and into the Wimbledon Golf Club whereby the fielding side shouted 'FORE' to a six for the benefit of those on the 10th tee. It was a fearsome display of power hitting. Justin was bowled whereby skipper Sam Martin contributed a paltry 6 runs and nibbled at one outside off to give their keeper his 3rd catch for the day. Nic Kyle then joined Luke to add a further 34 runs which included the skipper's shot of the day - a beautiful cover drive by Nic. Nic was out bowled as he missed a straight one that stayed lower than a snake’s underpants and the very next ball Chairman Mr Walsh was adjudged LBW after missing a straight one to close the innings at 145 off 24.4 overs. Luke was left stranded on 82*. Wimbledon’s opening bowler E Anand had taken 4-21 off 8 overs. We then took an early tea which despite the kitchen renovations in the Clubhouse was very good. Then Wimbledon made what can only be described as an incredibly generous offer - suggesting that should they be successful in chasing down the 145 total they would then bat on and use the remaining overs to amass a total that we would then get 16 overs to chase down the difference between our 145 and their final score off 40 overs. A creative and genius solution for making the most of a Sunday or cricket. Martin and 12th team member Vance Thompson opened the bowling with little reward (Ed’s note – A very sharp and well-executed piece of keeping by Justin Fredrickson

did lead to a strong appeal for caught behind off Vance but the umpire thought otherwise.) There was even less assistance from the Kookaburra County balls on what was turning into a flat yet slightly up & down wicket. Although not up & down enough to budge their openers - Ben Compton of 'the' Compton lineage (grandson of Denis and cousin of Nick) and new Wimbledon Club member Tom Pedley - who put on 130 for the first wicket off 120 balls. Nic Kyle bowled prodigious leg-spin from the southern end and had Compton caught at mid-wicket by the chairman and three balls later, new batsman and Wimbledon skipper Mark Costin notched a second-ball egg as he plugged one to the safe hands of Josh Wright off the chairman. Just prior to the fall of the 2nd wicket the plans agreed between Wimbledon and LNZCC were challenged by the majority of the LNZCC fielding side and the skipper succumbed to democracy and relented. Pedley and Wills were now together and Pedley tried a couple of Dilshan scoops, one of which lead to a very-spirited appeal for leg-before which was turned down. Thus with the change of plan, when Wimbledon achieved their task of passing 145 with 148 runs for 2 off 20.2 overs the match was finished. Slightly disappointing if you ask me but such is the nature of the democratic world we live in. To be fair it was cold, getting dark and the warm glow of the clubhouse bar and Arsenal v Chelsea was very tempting even if the football wasn't. So yet another belter of a track at Wimbledon which for some inexplicable reason provided very few runs for LNZCC. (Ed’s Note – the partnerships tell the story with 3 batsmen and Bugs Bunny being dismissed for ducks having used up only 9 balls.) Well played Wimbledon and we look forward to a return next season and a full day of cricket we hope. Thanks to Martin Conway who umpired the entire match (all 44 overs), to Maryse Dinan of NZ Society who came down to watch and sat with Barry from Wimbledon to score the LNZCC innings on the iPad, and to Wimbledon’s match-arranging manager Crispin and skipper Mark Costin. GBK Man of the Match - Luke Vivian (who must have a stash of vouchers by now) (Ed’s note: A fourminute long video of the LNZCC Skipper’s speech at the end of the match in which Luke gets a vague mention will be made available in due course.)